Europe

Spy-spotter: joke about scary visit came true

"A German man who called on Facebook friends concerned about American secret service operations to join him in a walk around a US army spy centre near his home, found secret service men at his door checking his political leanings. He said a state security agent arrived with a local police officer, and asked him a load of questions about his political activities and his opinions, and whether he had any connection to activists willing to use violence. They suggested his Facebook entry could be interpreted in different ways. In the end around 80 people showed up on Saturday to take a walk, have a talk and look at the US base." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: You Say You Want a Revolution

"Muskets were seized. Revolutionary groups were formed. The proletariat was hot now... and it saw no limit to its power or its prospects. Surely, it could pass laws too... and make itself rich. Even many of Louis' soldiers were talking about it... and taking the proles' side. Then, on July 14, a mob of about 1,000 people attacked the Bastille. Nearby troops did nothing to aid the small garrison of the fortress. The mob routed the defenders and murdered the Bastille's governor, Bernard-René de Launay. De Launay's head was sawed off and put upon a pike that was paraded around Paris. Louis XVI was executed, by guillotine, on January 21, 1793." Continue reading →

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Fracking could ruin German beer industry, brewers tell Angela Merkel

"The Brauer-Bund beer association is worried that fracking for shale gas, which involves pumping water and chemicals at high pressure into the ground, could pollute water used for brewing and break a 500-year-old industry rule on water purity. Under the 'Reinheitsgebot', or German purity law, brewers have to produce beer using only malt, hops, yeast and water. 'The water has to be pure and more than half Germany's brewers have their own wells which are situated outside areas that could be protected under the government's current planned legislation on fracking,' said a Brauer-Bund spokesman." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFracking could ruin German beer industry, brewers tell Angela Merkel

Germany drops fracking law until after September’s election

"The German government has suspended plans to regulate fracking until after September's election, prolonging the uncertainty that has hampered development of the gas extraction technology in Europe's biggest economy. Angela Merkel's centre-right government had drawn up legislation laying out the conditions for exploration and imposing restrictions on where drilling could take place, but that has now been put on hold. 'The fracking law has failed,' Horst Meierhofer, a member of the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) who share power with Merkel's conservatives, told Reuters. Senior conservatives also said the plans had been put on hold." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGermany drops fracking law until after September’s election

Fracking ban halts first shale gas project in Spain

"Spain’s richest shale gas reserves have been determined to exist in the northern region of Cantabria, but back in April the local Cantabrian government implemented the country’s first fracking ban, worried that such activities may pollute the local sources of drinking water. The Spanish fossil fuel trade group, Aciep, has made claims that Spain boasts enough prospective natural gas resources to meet the country’s domestic demand for more than 70 years. The Spanish government has worked to reduce barriers to energy for any international oil and gas companies trying to develop shale gas in the country." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFracking ban halts first shale gas project in Spain

French president vows no fracking while he is president

"President Francois Hollande said on Sunday that France would maintain its ban on the exploration for shale gas throughout his five-year term. 'As long as I am president, there were will be no exploration for shale gas,' Hollande said during a Bastille Day interview with top television channels. He said the fracking technique used to extract shale gas presented too many 'risks to groundwater'. 'We can see some consequences in the United States' from the technique, Hollande said. Energy companies have been banned since 2011 from exploiting shale gas in France over fears of environmental risks from the potential air and water pollution involved in fracking." Continue reading →

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Greenpeace activists break into French nuclear power plant

"Several dozen Greenpeace activists broke into a nuclear plant in southern France early on Monday, unfurling banners against atomic power, the organisation and police said. They hung banners reading 'Tricastin: a nuclear accident' and 'Francois Hollande: president of a catastrophe?' in reference to the French leader, according to Isabelle Philippe, a Greenpeace spokeswoman. Activists from the environmental anti-nuclear group have staged several break-ins in French nuclear plants in recent years in an effort to highlight what they say are dangers of atomic power and to expose security problems at the power stations." Continue reading →

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Polish doctors carry out world’s first life-saving face transplant

"Polish doctors carried out the world’s first life-saving face transplant, the centre’s spokeswoman said Wednesday, weeks after a 33-year-old man was disfigured by a machine in a workplace accident. The man, an employee at a stonemason’s workshop and only identified as Grzegorz, was severely maimed on April 23, when a machine used to cut stone ripped out a large chunk of his face. With time of the essence, doctors were lucky to find a donor within two weeks, a man in his thirties whose family immediately agreed to the operation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolish doctors carry out world’s first life-saving face transplant

Poland Traffic Cameras Battered, Government Seeks Insurer

"Attacks on speed cameras in Poland have become so common that the country's transportation department is looking for companies to insure the 185 speed cameras and red light cameras that will be in place by September. The policy would cover 30 million zloty (US $9 million) worth of equipment against losses that have included the destruction of 31 cameras last year, or about one out of four devices in operation Interia.pl reported." Continue reading →

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US, EU kick off Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks despite Snowden revelations

"The main goal is to agree on removing bureaucratic, regulatory and protectionist barriers to more open trade and investment to create what would be the world’s largest free-trade area, involving 820 million people. Key focuses of the talks ahead include agricultural trade, cross-border investment, intellectual property rights and regulatory harmonization. To avoid stalling the talks, separate US-EU discussions on the NSA activities were held quietly this week at the Department of Justice. Washington will push Europe to open up to US biotechnology products like genetically modified foods, which many European consumers consider dangerous." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS, EU kick off Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks despite Snowden revelations